Digital Commons Network^™

Enhanced Control Of Liposomal Drug Release By Drug-Aptamer Complexes, Xiangang Huang, Yang Li, Matthew Torre, Rachelle Shao, Wei Zhang, Zihan Wang, Daniel S Kohane, Christopher B Weldon

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Conventional diffusion-controlled drug delivery systems (DDS) can have undesirable initial burst release, leading to potential systemic toxicity, and the rate of basal release can deplete content, shortening the duration of effect. Here, it is hypothesized that conventional drug delivery systems-using liposomes as an example-can be enhanced by incorporation of an aptamer that binds specifically to the encapsulated drug. Affinity of the aptamer to the drug within liposomes (Lipo-Apt) would slow release. It is demonstrated that this approach works with a range of relatively small and hydrophilic molecules, including tetrodotoxin (TTX), serotonin (Ser), and kanamycin (Kan). The in vivo utility of …

Aligning Climate-Energy Policies With Citizen Beliefs, Scientific Findings, Health And Economic Benefits, And Geopolitical Stability, A. R. Mcconnell, Tyler P. Jacobs

Psychology Faculty Works

Recent and abrupt deviations in U.S. climate and energy policies are shifting the United States away from a more sustainable future toward greater fossil-fuel use that will accelerate global warming. These new priorities go against the wishes of the American people as measured by many nationally representative surveys, and they ignore the scientific consensus regarding climate change and its deleterious consequences. This new agenda will harm the physical and mental health of Americans, imperil the U.S. economy, weaken American leadership in science, and increase geopolitical instability. Despite the frightening nature of these unprecedented departures from past climate-energy policies, successfully combating …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, Fall 2025, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

P.1 Dean's Message from Dr. Sen Subramanian
P.2 Student Spotlights
P.3 One Day for STATE
P.4 Fun Filming with Jack
P.5 Germanium Studies
P.6 Research Expenditures
P.8 Increased Enrollment
P.9 Faculty Recognition
P.11 Scoops & Smiles

Introduction To Critical Conversation In Canadian Public Law, Joshua Sealy-Harrington, Karen Drake, Kyle Kirkup, Anne Levesque, Jena Mcgill

Articles & Book Chapters

The introductory chapter to Critical Conversations in Canadian Public Law situates the book "in the midst of some of the most significant social, economic, and political struggles of the past decade", from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Gaza genocide. The introduction describes how the book "seeks to reflect and ignite critical conversations about the centrality of public law and its institutions, broadly defined and deeply contested, to the (re)production of current inequities." It outlines two ways in which the collection is "critical": first, the critical legal methods employed by the contributors (e.g., acknowledging law's political operation, understanding law's relationship with …

Using Constructivist Grounded Theory Study To Understand The Retention Rate Of The School Of Automotive, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, Lana Rizzo

Ed.D. Capstone Reports

This study explored students’ reasons for returning and continuing their education in the School of Automotive. Therefore, this study developed an understanding of the higher-than-average retention rate for the School of Automotive at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach, and the data came from semi-structured interviews. As this is a constructivist grounded theory study, the students and I co-created the theory behind this phenomenon.

Preliminary Investigation Of Nitrogen Rate Influence On Irrigated Bermudagrass Forage Production, Bronc Finch, Lance Blythe

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) forage production recommendations are often developed in natural environments with available water limitations, often resulting in highly variable responses and lower average responses. As farmland ownership changes and agriculture and irrigation technologies become more affordable the amount of irrigated hay production has increased. While much of the agronomic management does not differ between rain-fed and irrigated environments, nutrient use and uptake dynamics may. This requires a reevaluation and potential adjustment of current recommendations to allow for increased yield potential of irrigated production systems without detrimental impacts on the system. The objective of this study was to identify …

A Call For Canceling Compassionate Release And Restoring Federal Parole, Honorable Chief Judge C.J. Williams

Washington and Lee Law Review

The current federal sentencing scheme is a patchwork quilt of provisions that grant judges virtually unfettered and unreviewable discretion imposing sentences on the front-end and in granting compassionate release on the back end. It was not designed in the beginning to be this way. The advisory-only sentencing guidelines scheme we have now resulted from the Supreme Court’s finding that mandatory guidelines violated the Constitution. The recent sentencing reform movement—of which compassionate release is a significant part—has sought to find ways of ameliorating what is seen as the draconian result of the war on drugs. The question is whether granting Article …

Characterization Of Pigeonpea As An Alternate Summer Forage Crop In Virginia, Satya S. S. Narina, Glenn Chappell Iii, Harbans L. Bhardwaj

Virginia Journal of Science

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.), a major multifunctional food legume crop valued globally, contributes to food security by supplying protein-rich grain for human consumption and provides nutrient-rich biomass for livestock feeding across diverse production systems. However, little is known about its forage potential in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In 2009 and 2010, four cultivars (GA-1, GA-2, W-1, and W-3) were evaluated in a split-plot design with three intra-row plant populations (2, 4, or 6 plants per 0.3 m row) and three planting dates (May, June, and July). Forage yield, crude protein, minerals, and other nutritional traits were …

Toward The Human Right To Water For Vulnerable Communities: The Effectiveness Of Stakeholder Processes To Control Regional Shallow Groundwater Contamination By Nitrates, Iris Stewart, John Dialesandro, Samantha Lei, Lilah Foster

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Nitrate contamination in shallow drinking water wells is an urgent and persistent concern for agricultural regions and disadvantaged communities worldwide. As viable options for the large-scale removal of nitrates from groundwater remain elusive, greater emphasis has been placed on stakeholder-based integrative approaches, yet few have been developed, and fewer evaluated for their effectiveness. The Central Valley in California is one of the most important intensive agricultural regions globally, where such a stakeholder-based process (CV-SALTS) has been initiated, and which is poised to serve as a model for controlling nitrate contamination elsewhere. Based on the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program …

Equine-Based Occupational Therapy To Develop Social And Emotional Skills In Adolescents: An Educational Video Series, Annabeth Dorris, Steven Gerardi, Angela Blackwell

Fall 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Adolescents experience rapid physical, emotional, and social changes that often challenge self-regulation and social-emotional skill development. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are equipped to address these needs through a variety of ways, like equine-based occupational therapy (EBOT), yet resources on this setting remain limited. This capstone project developed an educational video series to guide OT practitioners in using equine-based occupations to promote social-emotional learning (SEL) skills in adolescents, targeting self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The seven videos were posted to YouTube for easy access. This resource serves as a tool OT practitioners can use for knowledge and …

Escape Of Kdm6a From X Chromosome Is Detrimental To Ischemic Brains Via Irf5 Signaling, Conelius Ngwa, Afzal Misrani, Kanaka Valli Manyam, Yan Xu, Shaohua Qi, Romana Sharmeen, Juneyoung Lee, Long-Jun Wu, Louise Mccullough, Fudong Liu

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

The role of chromatin biology and epigenetics in disease progression is gaining increasing recognition. Genes that escape X chromosome inactivation (XCI) can impact neuroinflammation through epigenetic mechanisms. Our previous study has suggested that the X escapee genes Kdm6a and Kdm5c are involved in microglial activation after stroke in aged mice. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that Kdm6a/5c demethylate H3K27Me3/H3K4Me3 in microglia, respectively, and mediate the transcription of interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) and IRF4, leading to microglial pro-inflammatory responses and exacerbated stroke injury. Aged (17–20 months) Kdm6a/5c microglial conditional knockout (CKO) female mice (one allele of the …

Indigenous And Online: Implications For Contemporary Zapotec Language Acquisition And Heritage Learning In Central Oaxaca, Esénia Bañuelos , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Within the Indigenous communities of the United States and Mexico, combating language loss in a moment of exponential language loss is one of working in conjunction with contemporary tools – or creating the future of language preservation itself from them. Technological advances of the 21st century– including the expansion of instant messaging, video streaming, and photography sharing platforms– have sometimes been considered antithetical to language reclamation practices and Indigenous cultural maintenance more generally (Chibrow and Meighan-Chibrow, 2021; Warschauer, 1998). One example of this is made visible in concerns expressed by First Nations Elders in that technology may be depended upon …

Colonial Christianity: The Language Of Evangelization Through The Levanto 1766 Joyful Mysteries Of The Rosary Poems, Lillian E. Chan , '26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis presents a translation from Colonial Valley Zapotec to English of the five poems based on the biblical Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary found in the 1766 Christian catechism attributed to Dominican friar Leonardo Levanto. I analyze the construction of the linguistic strategies revealed by the translation (periphrasis, semantic bifurcation, neologisms, calques, and metaphors) as well as examine the extent to which these constructions were poetic innovations versus drawing on already-established language. Together, the translation and analysis of the Levanto (1766) Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary poems illustrate how language was used as a tool for evangelization in colonial …

Integrating Food Loss And Waste Reduction Policies With Global Dietary Shifts: An Economic Modelling Study, Alessandro Gatto, Maksym Chepeliev

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Background

Methods

0896: John F. Smith Collection, 1978-2017, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

John F. Smith was a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and former director of the Big Green Scholarship Foundation at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

The collection includes records of the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, research and papers of John F. Smith, and framed Marshall University basketball and football memorabilia.

What Community Members With Chronic Illness Teach Future Healthcare Professionals In A Longitudinal Interprofessional Education Program: A Focus Group Study, Rachel White, Maria Brucato, Amber King, Anne B. Mitchell, Nethra S. Ankam

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Nearly 50% of Americans have at least one chronic illness. Preparing future healthcare providers for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) and person-centred care through community-based interprofessional education (IPE) can improve outcomes for this growing population. Partial programme theories predict that patients' participation as teachers in health professions education contributes to students' development of patient-centredness. Role theory asserts that behaviours are shaped by assigned roles; therefore, community members with chronic illness who assume roles of health mentors in an IPE curriculum are predicted to teach students about their patient experiences. Yet, this teaching outcome and the lessons health mentors teach in …

Dynamic Rewiring Of Microrna Networks In The Brainstem Autonomic Control Circuits During Hypertension Development In The Female Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat, Alison Moss, Ankita Srivastava, Lakshmi Kuttippurathu, James S. Schwaber, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

We describe global microRNA (miRNA) changes in the central autonomic control circuits during the development of neurogenic hypertension. Using the female spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and the normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY), we analyzed the dynamic miRNA expression changes in three brainstem regions-the nucleus of the solitary tract, caudal ventrolateral medulla, and rostral ventrolateral medulla-as a time series beginning at 8 wk of age before hypertension onset through to extended chronic hypertension. Our analysis yielded nine miRNAs that were significantly differentially regulated in all three regions between SHR and WKY over time. We collated computationally predicted gene targets of these nine …

Pacap Signalling Network In The Nucleus Accumbens Core Regulates Reinstatement Behaviour In Rat, Samrat Bose, Gregory Simandl, Evan M. Hess, Linghai Kong, Nicholas Raddatz, Brian Maunze, Sujean Choi, David A. Baker

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) lacks FDA-approved treatments, partly due to the difficulty of creating therapeutics that target behaviour-related neural circuits without disrupting signalling throughout the brain. One promising candidate for circuit-selective neuromodulation is pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), a neuropeptide with pleiotropic behavioural actions whose signalling network spans the gut–brain axis. Here, we investigated the potential existence and function of an endogenous PACAP signalling network within the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc), which is a structure that integrates emotional, cognitive and reward processes underlying behaviour. We found that PACAP and its cognate receptor, PAC1R, are endogenously expressed in the rat NAcc …

Manufactured Monstrosity: Analyzing And Challenging The Narrative Of Lgbtq+ Terrorism, Samantha Salter

Colorado Law Student Scholars

No abstract provided.

Labour And (Class) Struggle In James Barke’S Compositionist Imaginaries: Dreaming With Rob Roy, Marx & Burns, Arianna Introna

Studies in Scottish Literature

James Barke’s literary imagination of working lives is primarily concerned with how different modes of labour generate a tension between refusal of work and the material constraints on fully engaging in it. Putting into conversation the Marxist autonomist method of ‘compositionism’ with Barke’s own theories of art and class struggle, this article traces how Barke’s fiction represents toil on the one hand, and the yearning for a life beyond the tyranny of capital on the other, as defining the horizons of working-class life.

Proletarian Nights In Archie Hind’S The Dear Green Place, Corey Gibson

Studies in Scottish Literature

This article argues for a reappraisal of Archie Hind's landmark Glasgow novel The Dear Green Place (1966), which represents the conflation and combination of long histories of class formation with the grind of everyday labours, and a provocation about the possibilities, limitations, and contradictions of working-class artistry in twentieth-century Scotland.

James Kelman And The Impossibility Of Managerial Souls, Joseph H. Jackson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses James Kelman's portrayal of middle managers and their interactions with those they manage in "The Bevel' (1983), A Disaffection (1989), How Late It Was, How Late, (1994), and You Have to be Careful in the Land of the Free (2004), exploring their interactions with those they manage in terms of managerialism, management theories, and the U.K. government's New Public Management reforms.

Advice To Christian Philosophers, Forty Years Later, Christian B. Miller, Meghan Sullivan, Devin Gouvêa, Gregory Robson, Matthew Frise, Philip Swenson

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

God And Value, Julien Beillard

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Citizen Shareholders: The State As A Fiduciary In International Investment Law, Eleanor L. Thompson

Michigan Law Review

International investment law provides stability for investors, helps capital flow across the globe, and can be a critical tool for sustainable development. This regime, however, has become increasingly controversial, in part due to its inability to reconcile investor obligations with competing human rights obligations. International investment treaties provide substantive guarantees to investors, including submission to binding arbitration in the event of breach. When found in breach of one of these guarantees, international investment arbitral tribunal awards are often in the hundreds of millions of dollars, potentially creating “regulatory chill” for states that may otherwise take affirmative action to protect human …

The Parthenon, October 01, 2025, Baylee Parsons, Kaitlyn Fleming, Ashton Pack, Nate Harrah, Caden Adkins, Scott Price, Lilli Ross, Wade Sullivan

The Parthenon

No abstract provided.

Complementary, But Not Equivalent: Clarifying The Role Of Rwe And Rct In Migraine Research, Mario F. P. Peres, Hsiangkuo Yuan, Cristina Tassorelli

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Paraconsistent Logic And The Metaphysics Of The Incarnation: A Defense Of Jc Beall’S Contradictory Christology, Vincent Ray M. Daut

Loyola Papers

This article explores the application of paraconsistent logic to one of theology’s enduring challenges: the metaphysics of the Incarnation. The claim that Christ is both fully human and fully divine, as defined by the Council of Chalcedon, presents a significant ontological dilemma, as these two natures are inherently incompatible and mutually exclusive according to classical logic: on the one hand, human nature is defined by finitude, mutability, and moral fallibility, and divine nature is understood as infinite, immutable, and morally impeccable, on the other. Drawing on Jc Beall’s contradictory Christology, this article argues that paraconsistent logic provides a coherent framework …

Religious Conflicts In Disguise: The Limits Of The Law In Tackling Conflicts With Religious Dimensions, Yael Efron

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In previous publications, we have established the crucial differences between conflicts with religious dimensions (CRDs) and other types of conflicts. We claim that a legal solution to CRDs is rarely sufficient to terminate the conflict and often might lead to further damage to communities and persons, sometimes even harsher than the original dispute. Since not all CRDs are similar, a theorized model of their distinguishing elements—time, intensity, and proximity to core values—assists us in differentiating them. By analyzing the elements of CRDs in accordance with the TIV model, we can more easily determine which conflicts are suitable for legal process …

The Effect Of Fascicular Elastin On The Mechanical And Functional Properties Of Healthy, Damaged, And Healing Tendon, Shawn Pavey

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Mechanical properties of tendon are highly influenced by structural protein composition and microscopic sub-structures. Within the largest subunit of tendon, the fascicle, the role of the elastin protein remains understudied despite impressive extensibility and fatigue resistance of its resulting elastic fibers. While previous work catalogued contributions of fascicular elastin across tendon type and species, the anticipated effects of elastin in fatigue and healing have not yet been explored. While previous knockout mouse models showed that disruption of elastic fibers led to altered mechanical properties (e.g., increased linear modulus), these models depended on heterozygous elastin deficiency or indirect knockout of proteins …